Why it works: Mustard and lettuce match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,356 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Lobster Salad
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Cut the lobster meat and lettuce into small pieces.
Boil the eggs hard, then mash the yolks with a spoon.
Combine and serve
In a bowl, combine the lobster, lettuce, mustard, vinegar, sweet oil, mashed yolks, salt, and Cayenne pepper, then mix well and serve chilled.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Mustard + lettucetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,356 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Mustard + cabbagetop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,645 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Cabbage + lettucetop 4% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together622 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Pepper + cabbagetop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,081 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Lobster
- Provides the main protein and the sweet, firm meat that forms the body of the salad.
- Hard-boiled egg yolks
- Mashed into the dressing, they add richness and a creamy, smooth texture.
- Mustard
- Adds sharp flavour and helps emulsify the oil and vinegar into a stable dressing.
- Sweet oil
- Supplies fat that carries flavour and gives the dressing a silky, moist texture.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavour and balances the richness of the oil and yolks.
The step that matters
Mix the dressing with the lobster and lettuce. Mixing well ensures the mustard, yolks, oil and vinegar form an even emulsion that coats every piece. Adding the dressing to the greens too early can wilt the lettuce, so serve chilled soon after mixing.
Swap the cabbage
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lobster, mustard, vinegar, egg, pepper, lettuce):
- Horseradishfits better
- Cucumberfits better
- Beetrootfits better
- Cabbagethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against lobster, mustard, vinegar, egg, pepper, lettuce. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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